Board Books by Gavin Bishop

Mihi  Gavin Bishop

 

Mihi  Gavin Bishop (2020)
Gecko Press, Wellington NZ

Board book, 16 pages
ISBN 978 1 776573 02 8

 

Mihi is perfect.

This board book is simply the perfect book for a young New Zealander. Mihi is a Māori word that every New Zealand schoolchild (and a growing proportion of their elders) will understand. The mihi is steadily becoming a recognised feature of New Zealand life at public and private functions and occasions. It could be called an introduction or a greeting. It tells who you are and where you come from. It gives you your place in the world. 

You mention the canoe your ancestors came on, the landscape feature you are connected with, usually a mountain, the body of water, the marae, the iwi (tribal grouping) and the whanau (extended family).
The technical definition is: Mihi / mihimihi / pepeha: introducing yourself and making connections to other people and places.

All this sounds complicated but Gavin Bishop’s Mihi makes it breathtakingly simple. A baby could understand it. Mihi makes brilliant use of simple words and simple illustrations to help any parent to introduce any young child to their tūrangawaewae.
Tōku waka. [My canoe]
Tōku maunga. [My mountain]
The focus steadily closes through iwi and whanau to parents:
Tōku māmā. [My mother]
Tōku pāpā. [My father]
Until finally we reach the individual:
Ko Ahau tēnei. [This is me]

Gavin Bishop’s striking illustrations match the spare simplicity of his text. The sea that supports the symbolic canoe is a koru (fern, spiral), gently repeating its own shape. The illustration of the whanau is a cluster of relatives, with only the top half of a small person’s head visible. A small blue rabbit is firmly held up. When we reach the final picture we see the serious face of the small child, with the blue rabbit still near at hand.

This is the perfect book for parent and child to read together and then expand and elaborate, inserting details and naming the people.

Mihi is a taonga, a treasure.

Trevor Agnew
6 Jul 2020

 

Koro  Gavin Bishop

Pops  Gavin Bishop
 

Pops  Gavin Bishop (2021)
Gecko Press, Wellington NZ
Board book, 16 pages
ISBN 978 1 776574 00 1

 

Hi Pops!
This board book is a charming celebration of a small Māori girl’s day spent visiting her grandfather (koro). My day with Pops (Ka toro ki a Koro). The pictures, cleverly, show only part of what is happening, so the meeting of the two characters is shown by just a tiny hand clasped in a large one.

For Are you hungry? (He aha māu, e moko?) we see no more than Pops’ boot and the girl’s bare feet as they move to his garden. Only when they gather some greens (he pūhā) does the reader see their faces, with Pops a grey-haired version of his tiny granddaughter. They gather an egg (he hēki), carrots (he kāroti) and other ingredients for a sandwich meal (he kai).
Then they tell stories. (he kōrero).
Night, night, Pops! (Ā! He moe!).

The minimal text gives great scope for the young reader to develop (or have developed) their own family’s features as part of the story.

Gavin Bishop’s double-page colour illustrations are bold, simple and charming, with the figures (or parts of them) shown against large blocks of colour. Compared to his granddaughter, Pops’ face is darker and more textured (by Gavin’s trademark sprinkling of salt on damp watercolour). Every picture shows the contrast between the old man and his fresh-faced granddaughter. This little board-book will inspire not only reading but story-telling in a family.

An identical Māori language edition, Koro, was also published by Gecko in 2021.

Note: The little girl also appears, with her family, in Gavin Bishop’s board-books Mihi (2020) E Hoa (2022) and Friend (2022).

Trevor Agnew, 19 July 2021

 

  

 

 

Koro  Gavin Bishop

 Koro Gavin Bishop
Gecko Press, Wellington NZ (2021) Board book, 16 pages 
ISBN 978 1 776574 01 8

E Koro! (Hi Pops!)
This board book is a charming celebration of a small Māori girl’s day spent visiting her koro (grandfather). Ka toro ki a koro. (My day with Pops.) The pictures, cleverly, show only part of what is happening, so the meeting of the two characters is shown by just a tiny hand clasped in a large one.
For He aha māu, e moko? (Are you hungry?) we see no more than Pops’ boot and the girl’s bare feet as they move to his garden. Only when they gather some pūhā (greens) does the reader see their faces, with Koro a grey-haired version of his tiny granddaughter. They gather he hēki (an egg), some kāroti (carrots) and other ingredients for kai (in this case a sandwich meal).
Then they kōrero (tell stories).
Ā! He moe! (Night, night, Pops!).

The minimal text gives great scope for the young reader to develop (or have developed) their own family’s features as part of the story.

Gavin Bishop’s double-page colour illustrations are bold, simple and charming, with the figures (or parts of them) shown against large blocks of colour. Pops’ face is darker and more textured (by Gavin’s trademark sprinkling of salt on damp watercolour). Every picture shows the contrast between the old man and his fresh-faced granddaughter. This little boardbook will inspire not only reading but story-telling in a family.

An identical English language edition, Pops, was also published by Gecko in 2021.
Note: The little girl also appears, with her family, in Gavin Bishop’s board book Mihi (2020).

Trevor Agnew
19 July 2021

 

E Hoa : Friend  Gavin Bishop  

 

E Hoa : Friend  Gavin Bishop  Gecko, Wellington NZ (2022)
Board book, 18 pages
ISBN 978 1 77657 468 1

This board-book for young readers is part of a family which includes Mihi (2020), Koro (2021) and Pops (2021). The little Māori girl who was the central figure of Mihi, and who shared a meal with her grandfather, in Koro and Pops, now returns as narrator to introduce her best friend.

Thus the Māori language edition is entitled E Hoa.
Thus the English language edition is entitled Friend.
Gavin Bishop’s cheerful cover illustration makes it clear that the friend in question is the little girl’s faithful dog.
Taku kurī pai… Taku hoa pūmau.
[This is my good dog… She is my faithful friend]
The pictures that follow use the dog to illustrate a range of emotions and feelings.
Each picture is a spring board for discussions about how the dog is feeling and why. The dog’s attitudes and expressions are very clear messages of how she is feeling. In some pictures people’s expressions help as well. For example, when the dog is being noisy (hoihoi) we can see a deep frown on Koro’s face.

The bold, simple pictures provide clear illustrations of each of the dog’s emotions and sometimes show why she is feeling that way. A worm intruding into her food-bowl makes her angry, so she barks loudly. When the little girl rebukes her, the dog is shown lying on the ground – sorry. Tummy-tickling makes the dog happy. The chance of a walk makes her excited and ready to go. Kei te kaikaha ia.
The best picture shows the dog and girl gazing into each other’s eyes – Taku hoa Pūmau. [My faithful friend].
The board book has carefully rounded corners, just right for tiny fingers and large clear illustrations just right for eyes of all sizes and ages.

Note: This boardbook, E Hoa, is also available in an English language edition as Friend (2022).

Trevor Agnew
11 July 2022

Titiro: Look Gavin Bishop

 

Titiro: Look  Gavin Bishop  
Gecko, Wellington NZ (2024)
Board book, 32 pages
ISBN 978 1 0670207 8

 

Gavin Bishop has written and illustrated a wide 
range of board books ever since There was an Old Woman tossed up in a Basket (2008). Arguably his best board books are the small wordless Tummy Time fold-out board books Look (2023) and its Māori language companion, Titiro (2023).

Now he has combined these two into a large (22cm x 22cm) paged version, Titiro: Look. This board book is an ideal size for sharing with a child seated on one’s knee. The corners are carefully rounded so that little ones can handle it freely.

 

Best of all, Gavin Bishop has also added words in Māori and English. The translation into te reo is by Darryn Joseph. Each odd-numbered page offers a different face while the even-numbered pages display objects familiar to young people. These include Teti pea/Teddy bear, Rarā/Rattle, Mokonui/Dinosaur, Ngata/Snail and Ukurere/Ukulele.

The placement is well thought-out. For example, the face of a lady wearing spectacles is opposite Mōhiti/Glasses.

The words are well-chosen to expand vocabulary in both languages. Thus Taraka/Truck introduces nui/big, wira/wheel, pango/black and whero/red as well as porotaka/round and taraiwa/drive. An elderly man’s profile offers kiwikiwi/grey, rae/forehead, tukemata/eyebrow, ihu/nose and ngutu/lips.

 

Charmingly, several of the faces shown belong not to humans but to family pets such as Ngeru/Cat and Kurī/Dog. The pictures are simple and bold in their execution, with a wide range of skin tones on display. Several of the pictures use distinctively Māori objects so that Manu tukutuku/Kite is illustrated by a traditional Māori kite and Taonga/Treasure is a greenstone tiki. One of the word pairs offered for this carving is maimoa/cherish.

Titiro: Look is a taonga, a book to be cherished.

 

Trevor Agnew 

27 May 2025   [Review 3775]

 

There was a Crooked Man  Gavin Bishop

There was a Crooked Man
Gavin Bishop
Gecko Wellington NZ (2009)
Boardbook, 16 pages
ISBN 978 1 87746 724 0

 

This board book invests the old nursery rhyme There was a Crooked Man with all the charm of Gavin Bishop’s imaginative illustrations. In earlier versions the man was often shown as crippled or distorted, sometimes alarmingly so. In this version, however, he is an attractive character who is immensely tall and able to bend marvellously to keep in touch with the world below him. His legs and arms move in elegant arcs and arabesques. The result is engaging, especially as he gathers up the crooked cat and crooked mouse. 

Gavin Bishop has also given his Crooked Man some splendid clothes to match his unique anatomy. He wears long, bendy boots and top hat, while the swallow-tails of his cut-away coat seem to have a life of their own.
Each opening creates a vertical double page spread, revealing a picture over twice as tall as it is wide, ideal for the free play of the Crooked Man’s remarkable limbs.

Like its companion volume There was an old woman tossed up in a basket (2008) this book is good read-along fun. Its text is hand-written in a clear script that young readers will find easy to follow, while the rounded corners make the book comfortable to hold.

In 2010 There was a Crooked Man won the Russell Clark Award for Best Book Illustration.

 
Trevor Agnew, 2009

There was an Old Woman  Gavin Bishop

 

There was an Old Woman 
Gavin Bishop
Gecko Press, Wellington NZ (2008)
Board book, 24 pages
ISBN 978 1 877467 16 5

 

This board book presents the traditional nursery rhyme about spring cleaning, There was an old woman tossed up in a basket, with some of Gavin Bishop’s most appealing illustrations. This ‘flexiboard’ book with its rounded corners feels comfortable in the hand. Each opening is a vertical double page spread, revealing a picture over twice as tall as it is wide, ideal for the old woman’s journey that is seventeen times as high as the moon. 

The clear warm colours are restrained but attractive and each picture bursts with life: birds, storms, spring-cleaning maids, and clothes flapping on a line. The bold simple shapes of the old lady’s basket and cloak stand out against the open blue and purple of the sky, emphasising the distance she travels. Her basket is like a small spaceship with a green umbrella strapped to its side. The spiders are huge and green, many times the size of the old lady’s house, emphasising her great achievement in sweeping both moon and sky clear.

A Sendak-like small boy cheers her on throughout the book, so that it is clear who is asking the question, May I come with you?

The text is hand-written in a clear script that might be called joined-up writing, which proved easy for young readers to decipher.

Gavin Bishop says he was inspired by the 1844 edition, a seven-foot vertical unfolding panorama etched by Aliquis and published by D. Bogue in London.


A companion volume illustrated by Gavin Bishop is There was a Crooked Man (2009).

Trevor Agnew, 2008

Picture Books: Summer Holiday Reading 2012 
By Trevor Agnew

 [First published in Your Weekend Magazine, The Press, Christchurch, New Zealand]

2012 has been a great year for Christchurch’s Gavin Bishop. Not only has he had two new books published (Margaret Mahy’s Mr Whistler and Footsteps Through the Fog) but four of his earlier works have also been re-issued.  The most welcome of these is the paperback edition of Piano Rock: a 1950s Childhood. 

This memoir of Bishop’s early years in Kingston, on the southern shores of Lake Wakatipu, is a reminder that Bishop is a brilliantly evocative writer as well as one of the best children’s book illustrators in the world. (He also won an award for its design.) Here is life in the 1950s, with coal ranges, knitted pullovers, school concerts, steam trains, kerosene lamps, Pixie Town and girdle scones (recipe included). Both young readers and adults will be captivated by Bishop’s ability to recreate the smells, moods, fears and joys of his rural childhood, especially the climactic Guy Fawkes bonfire, where 8 year old Gavin’s imagination runs away with him.

Katarina (1990) is Bishop’s pictorial retelling of the remarkable odyssey of his great-aunt, Katarina (Catherine) McKay, 1842-1935, a Tainui Māori, who in the 1860s made the journey from the Waikato to Fortrose in Southland, to be re-united with her Scottish husband. (Intriguingly Bishop later discovered that the moko he created for the picture of his great-grandmother, Irihapeti, was identical to one she wore in real life.) The illustrations, re-scanned from the original artwork, are powerful and moving, as is Katarina’s life of devotion to her family. As Katarina puts it, “I’ve been too busy looking after my kids to die.”

 Kiwi Moon (2005) is the most perfect blending of Bishop’s 

story-telling skills and his artistic talent. On 
one level it is a beautiful tale of Little Kiwi, a rare white kiwi, and his relationship with Te Marama, the moon. The brave bird not only saves his mother from hunters’ dogs but also guides a little lost girl, a Pakeha settler, to safety. Because Little Kiwi only comes out at night, all the illustrations show night scenes, with mono-prints of plants, insects and trees. Interspersed among these are beautifully detailed ink and watercolour pictures of Māori life which tell another story without words.  Fighting between Māori and Pakeha has led to destruction and loss of life. The trees are cut down and fire rages through the bush. Bishop’s intertwined stories reach a connected and hopeful conclusion, making it a beautiful parable of New Zealand’s past (and perhaps) its future.

In Counting the Stars (2009) Bishop continues his re-telling of Māori legends and illustrating them with colourful mono-prints. The four stories tell of the separation of Earth (Papa) and Sky (Rangi), the war among the birds, Kae’s theft of a pet whale and the love of Hinemoa and Tutanekai. Each is vividly told and illustrated.

Peter Gossage has retold fifteen Māori legends in his long picture book career but The Giant of Lake Wakatipu is the first one to be set in the South Island. Using his familiar ‘stained-glass’ style of illustration, Gossage shows how the beautiful Manata was saved from Matau the giant by her lover Matakauri.  As Gossage shows, Matau’s grim fate still projects its mythical power in the pulsing waters of Lake Wakatipu.

   

Mokena Reedy’s popular Timo and the Kingfish (2000) has been revised, and given handsome new colour illustrations by Jim Byrt.  Timo ignores both safety rules and Māori protocol when he goes fishing out at sea, thus endangering the life of his dog Pou. Fortunately, Tangaroa is impressed by Timo’s courage, and Pou has a life-saving talent, so all ends well. This book will be a lively springboard for discussions of the issues involved. 

(An identical Māori language edition is also available.)

Remember that November began life as New Zealand’s contribution 

to an international anthology of peace stories. Jennifer Beck uses the framing narrative of a young girl’s contribution to a speech contest, reminding her listeners that, on November the 5th 1881, an armed advance on the village of Parihaka was met by passive resistance. The story is told briefly but with power. Lindy Fisher’s dramatic collages use such powerful symbols as the plough and the white feather to reinforce Te Whiti’s famous instruction: “Be you steadfast in all that is peaceful” (An identical Māori language edition is also available.)

Kiwi Play With Me is a magnificently illustrated counting book created by Lyttelton artist, Helen Taylor. “I’m a little kiwi. Will you play with me?” A kiwi chick, who invites friends to come and play, is

 joined by one kea, two bats, three frogs and, so on, up to ten kauri snails. Taylor has managed the difficult feat of bringing all 56 examples of New Zealand fauna together in one glorious picture at the conclusion. The elegant shapes and dramatic colours of Taylor’s illustrations are skilfully complemented by her bouncy verse narrative.

The Best-Dressed Bear (2002) is another re-issued classic, featuring 

Diana Noonan’s well-loved teddy bear and his owner Tim.  Tim is a little concerned that he is outgrowing his favourite clothes and he doesn’t want Mother to give them away. Luckily Tim thinks of a solution: his teddy bear can wear them. “But just until he gets too big for them!”

This logical and amusing solution makes both Tim (and his readers) feel warm and contented. Elizabeth Fuller’s delightful pictures add to the pleasure.

Reading (and in the case of the classics, re-reading) these New Zealand picture books has given me enormous satisfaction. These are truly books that can be enjoyed by all ages.

Their high standards of design and presentation mean that there is a skilful marriage of good story-telling and inspired art.  New Zealand’s high reading standards are based on a foundation of good books about our own country, and these nine picture books are exemplars.

Kiwi Play With Me is a magnificently illustrated counting book created by Lyttelton artist, Helen Taylor. “I’m a little kiwi. Will you play with me?” A kiwi chick, who invites friends to come and play, is joined by one kea, two bats, three frogs and, so on, up to ten kauri snails. Taylor has managed the difficult feat of bringing all 56 examples of New Zealand fauna together in one glorious picture at the conclusion. The elegant shapes and dramatic colours of Taylor’s illustrations are skilfully complemented by her bouncy verse narrative.

Trevor Agnew, Summer 2012

Full Publishing Details:

Katarina, Gavin Bishop, Random House (NZ Classic), 30pp, pb, NZ$19.99

ISBN 978-1-86979-064-6

Counting the Stars: Four Maori Myths, Gavin Bishop, Random House, 48pp, pb, NZ $19.99   ISBN 978-1-77553-017-6

Kiwi Moon, Gavin Bishop, Random House, 32 pp, pb, NZ$16.99

ISBN 978-1-86979-074-5

Piano Rock: a 1950s Childhood, Gavin Bishop, Random House, pb, 120 pages, NZ$24.99   ISBN 978-1-77553-257-6

Kiwi Play With Me: A Kiwi Count-Along Book, Helen Taylor, Puffin, 32pp, pb, NZ$19.99   ISBN 978-0-143-5049-5

Remember that November, Jennifer Beck, ill. Lindy Fisher, Huia, 32 pp, pb, NZ$20

ISBN 978-1-77550-010-0

The Giant of Lake Wakatipu, Peter Gossage, Puffin, 32pp, pb, NZ$19.99

ISBN 978-0-143-50560-0

Timo and the Kingfish, Mokena Potae Reedy, ill. Jim Byrt, 32pp, pb, NZ$20

ISBN 978-1-77550-046-9

The Best-Dressed Bear, Diana Noonan, Elizabeth Fuller, Scholastic, 24pp, pb, NZ$19.50

ISBN 978-1-77543-139-8

 

 

 

 

 

Unseen Academicals

Unseen Academicals: A Discworld Novel Terry Pratchett, Doubleday, 2009, 400 pages, hardback, NZ$65.99

Terry Pratchett is the world’s most beloved author. Decades of dedicated after-sales service at author-signings have created an international army of supporters, who love his 36 Discworld novels and are worried that the 37th might not be as good. Alzheimer’s disease means Pratchett can no longer type, so Unseen Academicals was dictated, which explains a slackening of incisiveness in some of the dialogue.

Fans will wince in sympathy when he uses ‘popcorn’ instead of ‘banged grains’ (p.282) but the wordplay is witty, the footnotes are funny and the social satire is as sharp as ever, with Pratchett’s crab-bucket theory of social improvement.

While football and fashion (specifically dwarf micro-mail) offer some Ankh-Morporkians a chance to rise in the world, life seems more complicated for Nutt who is (possibly) a goblin. The result is the ultimate town-versus-gown grudge match. Although Death is strangely absent, many Discworld characters – including Low King Rhys, Dr Lawn, Stanley Howler, Reverend Oats, Hwel, Lady Margolotta and Mr Shine - get brief nods.

Unseen Academicals makes great reading.

Trevor Agnew

This book review first appeared in Your Weekend Magazine, New Zealand 19 December 2009

The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins

The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins Barbara Kerley, ill Brian Selznick, Scholastic, 2009 (2001), 36 pages, paperback, ISBN978-0-439-11495-0

‘The jolly old beast is not deceased.
There’s life in him again.’
First published in hardback in 2001, this Caldecott Honour Book now returns in paperback to gain a new readership. Barbara Kerley’s skilful text and Brian Selznick’s imaginative illustrations bring to life the amazing Victorian sculptor-lecturer-showman, Waterhouse Hawkins, whose giant dinosaur statues in Crystal Palace Park still have the power to enthral.
We see Hawkins as a boy drawing and sculpting animals, and then as a respected scientist using fossil fragments to create pictures and models of dinosaurs. Queen Victoria visits his workshop full of life-size replicas in clay and plaster, being made ready for display at the Crystal Palace. After his London triumph, Hawkins is invited to New York to create more dinosaur replicas. Political skulduggery (by ‘Boss’ Tweed, no less) destroys his dream for central Park but Hawkins has other achievements to uplift his spirits both at home and abroad.
This large format picture book has a generous feel to it. The fresh and readable text is supplemented with an account of Hawkins’ remarkable life and works, as well the menu for the famous dinner eaten by 22 scientists inside the belly of the unfinished iguanodon statue. The colourful illustrations capture the magic of dinosaurs both as they appeared to Victorians and as we see them today. Some of the pictures seem to flow through time, and all of them reflect the enthusiasm of Hawkins himself. As he walks through London, his sketches of dinosaurs are carried by the wind to amaze passers-by, while Hawkins himself is constantly attended by the spirits of the extinct creatures he loved.
As the scientists sang at his historic iguanodon dinner:
‘The jolly old beast is not deceased.
There’s life in him again.’